


Una Finestra tra le Stelle

by Cassandra_Rouge



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Gramander, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magical Creatures, Past Torture, Romance, all of the magical creatures
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 11:04:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8842219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cassandra_Rouge/pseuds/Cassandra_Rouge
Summary: Newt knew how to take care of magical creatures, especially those that were hurting. Sometimes those creatures happened to be human.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I fell in a hole called rare pairing hell and this is how I got around to writing this. Comments are very much appreciated, especially if there are any mistakes I made while writing (not my first language). Let me know so I can correct them.
> 
> The title is from a song: Annalisa - Una Finestra tra le Stelle. Check it out, it's quite lovely.
> 
> The tags/people/pairings will be added as the fic progresses, because I'm not sure yet when/how/who will be included. 
> 
> Enjoy! :)

Mr. Graves' apartment was nothing special. Kitchen that doubled as a living room, all in dark wood with matching dull beige walls was small and tidy. The few appliances were neatly organized on the kitchen counter, the only thing out of place was a teacup left in the sink. There weren't any pictures in sight, that would in any way indicate who the person living here really was. The only thing that could count as “sentimental” in any way were a couple of shelves where various metal plaques that indicated all of the awards and decorations Mr. Graves had received during his career were neatly organized.

“ An official consultant to MACUSA is an actual job you know. That means you should be consulting not staring off into the distance and thinking of who knows what illegal beast.” 

Newt flinched and turned to Tina that followed him into the apartment.

“ Sorry. Just taking it all in. It was curious how no one noticed Mr. Graves wasn't quite himself for so long. I think this explains it, not that many people in his life are there?”

The empty walls revealed nothing but the fact that the person living here liked order. Even with Grindelwald posing as Graves, everything seemed just the way it was supposed to be. 

“ Nothing we can do about it now. He's still missing and knowing Grindelwald's history probably dead. He was a good man, even if he didn't let it show all that often. Come on, we're almost finished here, the only thing we needed was the paperwork. Now for the fun part, you my friend should learn how to write a proper report. Merlin knows it's time I got someone I can dump that on. And don't forget your case!”

Picking up the case and taking one last look around Newt apparated away. 

…

“ So this is all of you taken care of for today.”

Newt just finished with cleaning the erumpent habitat and with Ficket in tow, as per usual, decided to go make himself a cup of tea. A well deserved one after the hectic day of paperwork and briefings at MACUSA. 

“ Just the Niffler left then. Where is the little kleptomaniac today anyway? He didn't try to still my pocket watch even once...”

He rounded the corner to get to his nest, a hole filled with random shiny trinkets the little menace grabbed here and there on their travels. It was empty. Taking out a couple of shards of a broken occamy egg and scattering them around, Newt waited for the niffler to come running from his hideout and drag the precious chunks to his nest. Nothing. 

“ Where could he possibly be...”

He knew that he must look like a crazy person half of the time, talking to himself like this, but it helped Newt think.

Yesterday the little menace was safely in the case. He was still here in the morning when he dropped by to check on the latest addition to the family, a pack of puffskeins that were confiscated in a raid a couple of days ago. Being a consultant fortunately had it's bonuses of dealing (“No Newt, that does not mean keeping” as Tina liked to point out with a great deal of disapproval.) with any magical creatures the Congress came across. After that, all he did was go to Tina's office and with the exception of picking up the paperwork at Mr. Graves' apartment...

“ Shit! ”

He could see them very clearly, the shelves with shiny, polished plaques, a perfect bait for a nosy niffler.

…

Apparating in front of the apartment Newt figured he was very, very lucky. The wards placed around it due to it technically being a crime scene were extremely strong. Well... Strong enough that a niffler could not escape them on his own. Newt broke the wards, entered and carefully put them back up. He could not afford it getting out in the city. Again.

“ Where are you, you little bugger... Lumos.”

He placed the case on the floor and looked around. Everything seemed just the way they left it that morning except for the shelves, where not even one of the plaques stayed in it's place. The niffler was nowhere in sight, so he must gone to find something else that he can stuff down his pouch.

The door leading into the bedroom was slightly ajar. Slowly, he opened it. The bedroom was a mess. There were clothes strewn all over the bed and floor, the drawers in the dresser were in best case just opened. Some of them however, were tossed to the middle of the room.

Newt got closer and noticed that the biggest of the drawers had all sorts of clothes thrown over it, closely resembling a molehill. He took the top couple pieces off and what he found was a purring niffler that looked very pleased with himself, napping on top of a pile of things he gathered around the apartment. With a whole day to himself and nowhere else to go and wreak havoc he built himself a cozy little nest. 

“ Wakey, wakey, time to go home.”

The niffler opened one eye, looking utterly unimpressed, slowly stretching his limbs and yawning. The pile he was sitting on was made of everything from plaques to silver spoons but it seemed that he took a particular liking to one specific item. There was a silver chain that he was clutching in one of his paws and it lead to a large locket. It seemed old and very valuable. 

“ And what do you have there? You know you'll have to give all of it back, don't you?” 

There was defiant stomping and growling of course. The creature took the chain in both paws dragging the locket closer.

“ Now come on, we talked about this, you can't take things that don't belong to you. “  
Another unimpressed look. Newt sighed and sat on the floor in front of the pile.

“ I'm trying to reason with a niffler, Merlin help me.”

With a sterner tone he said: “ Locket. Now.”

There was more glaring. And more stomping. Almost an interpretative dance, but finally the niffler relented and showed the locket away from him.

“ Good boy!”

A tongue sticking out and a very impressive pout.

“ Now let's see, what do we have here...”

Newt took the locket in his hands. It was almost as big as his palm and very heavy. The front had an intricate design engraved in it and it looked vaguely like the MACUSA insignia. Judging by the age of it, it must have been an old family relic. It was closed by a small silver clasp. 

Considering there weren't many personal artifacts in the apartment, Newt's curiosity got the best of him. He opened the locket.

The change of atmosphere was instantaneous. There was cold air coming out of the locket, that now looked like a miniature doorway. Newt dropped it and moved back as fast as he could. He had a bad feeling about this. Taking out his wand he checked for the niffler. He scurried away into the living room as soon as the locket hit the floor. Slowly, he approached it again and muttered a quick revealing charm. The locket suddenly got larger and turned into a proper door. 

Old, wooden door that resembled one that would lead into a drafty, half collapsed cottage in the middle of nowhere. Newt checked for protective spells and except for a few that indicated that the only way through the door is from the side where he was currently standing, there was nothing out of the ordinary. It looked that the door was meant to keep someone or something in, not out. He opened the door, made sure he'll be able to get back and stepped through.

The spells used on the locket were not unlike what was used on his case. But, where the case was inviting and warm, a home to all those who resided there, the space here most closely resembled a prison cell. The walls were made of gray bricks covered with patches of moss and mold all over them. Stone floor was damp, with random puddles of stale water. A rusty bucket in the corner and straight across from the door a small heap of what probably used to be straw and on it, covered with a thin blanket, a body. 

“ Mister Graves?” called out Newt. There was no answer. He got closer and it felt like he was approaching a caged animal and as with every creature, before he figured out exactly what state it was in, he was filled with dread. That maybe there is nothing else he can do. That maybe he was too late. All he could see was a covered body and a mop of hair sticking out from under the blanket. He carefully placed his hand where a shoulder should be and in a split second he was pushed against the wall.

It wasn't strong enough to do any real damage, what threw Newt off was the surprise of it all. It was soon seen that the man holding him up was nothing but a shadow of his former self. His ribs were were prominent against his chest, his cheeks were hollow and his eyes gave off the vague feeling of processing what was going on but not truly understanding. But he was a man that went through hell and back without losing the essence of what being human was all about. His preservation instinct. To fight back no matter what stood up before you, a human, a wizard, a monster.

The sheer will to live made Newt stand still and admire the resolve found in this being that was beaten, tortured and kept from human company for a better part of the year and yet, here he was. Fighting. 

“I'm not here to hurt you. I'd like to help. Please.” 

He couldn't have been much of a threat with his hands up and wand falling to the floor. 

“I'll contact the MACUSA, the mediwizards, whatever you want, but please believe me, I'm not here to hurt you. I'd like to help, in any way I can.”

The look he got in return was a little bit haunted, wild, but Newt settled for it. This was a man that knew nothing but pain for Merlin knows how long in he was very much like one of his creatures. Alone. Lost. 

“No, I don't want anyone.... Anyone to see me like this. Please. Whatever you are just make it stop.”

The look in his eyes was so far away. So lost. So full of that sentiment that one has when one is clutching the last strands of humanity with all their strength.

In that moment, he seemed so much like just another creature. Just another defeated being that, above all else, wanted the suffering to stop. It was instinct, nothing else. It was pure instinct that made Newt slowly place his palms on Graves' shoulders, look him straight into his eyes and whisper: 

“You're safe now. Don't worry. It's over. I'll take care of you.”

The last thing he saw were the eyes of a broken man, looking at him, acknowledging there was no threat and promptly rolling around in his head, with a body collapsing right into Newt's arms.

**Author's Note:**

> I am drunk right now.
> 
> I guess I needed artificial balls to publish sth. Shit happens. Do not take any advice from drunk me. But it was my cousin's 40'th so i guess that could be an excuse. Still do not think this is something I would normally do. But as a PROCLAMATION to myself - do not DARE delete this tomorrow this is a THING that should be cherrished, you finally did it, you posted something that by the judgement of completely drunk you is not COMPLETE trash. YAAAAAYY.
> 
> To be honest, the intention of puting it on AO3 was already there, but I just didn't have the balls to do it, I'm entirely too critical (NOTE TO SELF) 
> 
> Maybe I should put my tumblr here: http://nellienox.tumblr.com


End file.
